Need // Want // Provision
Today the thermometer in the car read "107 degrees Fahrenheit" the air blew warm through the vents, never really reaching cool, but we had a car and I was grateful we could get out of the house.
As we drove through the long cement streets connecting us to our destination with conversation filling the car with a hum not too different from that of the engine, we were in our bubble. A red light popped that bubble with the sharp blue eyes of a man in need with a cardboard sign stained by the sweat of his hands. A thin sheen of sweat coated his forehead. It beaded up and hurried downward to his greying beard. I wondered if it was his age or his experiences that had aged him.
Five minutes later after a bit of contemplation and complication, my husband handed him a couple of water bottles and he teared up. He was so grateful. It was in that moments that I too became misty eyed because it has been almost eight months since Kevin has been employed. However, in those eight months God has continually provided. Admittedly, we were asking for a job, but instead he gave us food and shelter and diapers. He provided for our physical needs because we rely on Him to provide. I have never tasted need. In eight months of unemployment, I never wondered if we would have a place to sleep or if we would have water to drink. Eight months took patience, but not long suffering. We did not suffer.
Water is such a basic need. Yet, people around the world go without. People suffer without their basic needs being met. Access to clean drinking water seems like it is a basic human rights. It is a basic human need. Short term: We need air to breath, water to drink, and food to eat. Long term: We need shelter from the elements and love from God and others. Do we have the right to demand our needs be met? I'm not talking about our wants. I'm talking about surviving.
I know want. Deep want. I know what it feels like to be in want of money or a job or diapers. I know what want is so deeply, yet when my frugality was not enough, God was. God does not just provide our needs. He provides our wants. He desires for us to not only survive, but to thrive. He wants what is good for us because He loves us. He loves us deeply. He loves us deeper than our wants and deeper than our needs. He loves us straight to our core.
As I see people in actual need, I realize God has not forgotten them, but put us in their lives to provide for them. God did not forget about us in our dry spell, but was preparing a deluge of blessings for us when the time was right. He prepared our hearts and our minds. He molded us in just the right shape with unique skills and experiences. He put people in our life to provide for our wants. He spoke life into the desert.
How does God work? I don't know. I don't know why He does the things He does and why He does them the way He does. I don't know how He will do good. But I know that He works for good through His creation. He works through the homeless man on the street corner and the hospitality lady at church just the same. He works through everyone and everything for His good and His plan.
As we drove through the long cement streets connecting us to our destination with conversation filling the car with a hum not too different from that of the engine, we were in our bubble. A red light popped that bubble with the sharp blue eyes of a man in need with a cardboard sign stained by the sweat of his hands. A thin sheen of sweat coated his forehead. It beaded up and hurried downward to his greying beard. I wondered if it was his age or his experiences that had aged him.
Five minutes later after a bit of contemplation and complication, my husband handed him a couple of water bottles and he teared up. He was so grateful. It was in that moments that I too became misty eyed because it has been almost eight months since Kevin has been employed. However, in those eight months God has continually provided. Admittedly, we were asking for a job, but instead he gave us food and shelter and diapers. He provided for our physical needs because we rely on Him to provide. I have never tasted need. In eight months of unemployment, I never wondered if we would have a place to sleep or if we would have water to drink. Eight months took patience, but not long suffering. We did not suffer.
Water is such a basic need. Yet, people around the world go without. People suffer without their basic needs being met. Access to clean drinking water seems like it is a basic human rights. It is a basic human need. Short term: We need air to breath, water to drink, and food to eat. Long term: We need shelter from the elements and love from God and others. Do we have the right to demand our needs be met? I'm not talking about our wants. I'm talking about surviving.
I know want. Deep want. I know what it feels like to be in want of money or a job or diapers. I know what want is so deeply, yet when my frugality was not enough, God was. God does not just provide our needs. He provides our wants. He desires for us to not only survive, but to thrive. He wants what is good for us because He loves us. He loves us deeply. He loves us deeper than our wants and deeper than our needs. He loves us straight to our core.
As I see people in actual need, I realize God has not forgotten them, but put us in their lives to provide for them. God did not forget about us in our dry spell, but was preparing a deluge of blessings for us when the time was right. He prepared our hearts and our minds. He molded us in just the right shape with unique skills and experiences. He put people in our life to provide for our wants. He spoke life into the desert.
How does God work? I don't know. I don't know why He does the things He does and why He does them the way He does. I don't know how He will do good. But I know that He works for good through His creation. He works through the homeless man on the street corner and the hospitality lady at church just the same. He works through everyone and everything for His good and His plan.
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